Along with recent growth of industries related to portable electronic devices based on developments in semiconductor fabricating technologies and communication technologies and increased demands for developing alternative energies based on environment conservation demands and depletion of resources, battery-related technologies are being actively researched. Batteries include a primary battery that may be used once for a particular lifespan and a secondary battery that may be repeatedly recharged and used. As a source material of a battery, lithium is the lightest metal with the lowest standard reduction potential from among all metals known in the natural world. Therefore, when a battery is manufactured by using lithium, the battery may not only feature high energy density, but also feature a high voltage. Therefore, researches on primary batteries and secondary batteries using the lithium are being spotlighted.
A primary battery is mainly used as a main power source or a backup power source of a portable electronic device, whereas application of a secondary battery is being expanded from a battery for a small device, such as a mobile phone, a laptop PC, and a mobile display device, to a mid-size battery or a large-size battery for an electronic motor vehicle and a hybrid motor vehicle.
Such batteries are demanded to feature light weights, small volumes, high energy densities, excellent charging/discharging speed efficiency, outstanding cycling characteristics, high stability, and high economic feasibility.